


Nothing but the Rain

by opencirclefleet



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-14
Updated: 2015-09-14
Packaged: 2018-04-20 18:20:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4797551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/opencirclefleet/pseuds/opencirclefleet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>It's a damn cold night</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Trying to figure out this life</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Won't you take me by the hand</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Take me somewhere new</em>
  <br/>
  <em>I don't know who you are</em>
  <br/>
  <em>But I, I'm with you</em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nothing but the Rain

The night before the ceremony, a thunderstorm struck the city of Theed. Considering the wet climate of Naboo and its massive quantity of rainfall per year, it was surprising they hadn't seen more than a drizzle since arriving on planet.

Hailing from a desert planet meant Anakin has only experienced storms of the sand variety. Howling wind blew sharp bits of sand through cracks in the walls, the windows, the doors, leaving everything coated in a fine layer of golden dust the next morning. 

This was much different. Explosions lit the night sky as a hail of bullets threatened to break the delicate glass of the windows. Each spark of lightning bathed the room in pale blue light, illuminating a blanketed lump on the large bed.

Anakin huddled closer in his fortress of blankets, clenching his hands over his ears and squeezing his eyes shut. It did nothing to prevent the bright flashes of light and booming thunder from jarring him at each crash, but it helped minutely.

Naboo was  cold . He was cold and tired and lonely and he missed Qui-Gon and his mother. Anakin longed for the small stone hut on Tatooine, squeezing in next to his mother on her small bunk when a particularly nasty sandstorm hit. His mother would hold him close and stay awake until he fell asleep, soothing his fears with a story and a cuddle.

Here, the only person near him right now was Obi-Wan in the adjoining room, and Anakin sincerely doubted the older man would appreciate a midnight cuddle. Besides, Obi-Wan didn’t  like him. The words had never expressly been issued from the Jedi, but the thought was evident in the cross glances shot his way during the Council meetings, the tightly pursed lips that hadn’t uttered more than a sentence at a time since the occupation had ended, the way the elder man had  deliberately  been avoiding him.

He was probably sound asleep, nice and cozy in his own bed, without a care in the world for the storm raging outside of his padawan lying terrified in the room next to him--

A bolt of lightning crackled right by the window, electric fractules followed a split second later by a roll of thunder that shook the bed and chattered Anakin's teeth.

The boy was nothing more than a blur as he abandoned his protective blanket fort and made a beeline for the door. He didn't actually  think  about where he was running to until after he had already ploughed into Obi-Wan's bed and was nearly hurled from it a second later.

"Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked groggily, bewildered by the sudden rocket of a child shivering under his blankets, "What in blazes are you doing?"

Another crash of thunder quaked the room just as Anakin opened his mouth to respond, causing him to make a very undignified squeak.

He buried his head in Obi-Wan’s shoulder, unconsciously searching for comfort. A weary sigh escaped Obi-Wan, and Anakin closed his eyes, afraid he would be rejected and sent back to his room to deal with the storm himself. It wasn’t Jedi-like to be afraid, especially not of something as natural as rain. Obi-Wan was going to think him a coward, either laugh at him or reprimand him and shove him back into the cold. 

“Anakin.” But instead of pushing him away, a hesitant arm curled over his shoulders and tugged him closer. Obi-Wan sighed again. “I suppose you wouldn’t have experienced a thunder storm on Tatooine.”

Anakin shook his head. The boy’s small shoulders were shaking, the staccato of his heartbeat thumping through the thin fabric of his sleepshirt. For a few moments, the scene was almost unbearably awkward--Obi-Wan had little experience in comforting a child, and Anakin was still sure Obi-Wan fairly hated him--but eventually they relaxed enough that Obi-Wan’s hand rubbing his new padawan’s back became as natural as breathing.

“Easy, young one,” he soothed, “It’s only rain."  Another volley of sparks, another deafening growl as rain pelted the large windows like icy bullets. Tiny fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt. Anakin’s shaking stopped, as did the ragged, panicked breathing that accompanied it. The storm raged on outside as a tentative peace settled over the room. 

“I miss my mom,” Anakin sniffled suddenly, burying his head into Obi-Wan’s neck at the admission. “And I know I shouldn’t, because Jedi aren’t supposed to love people and aren’t supposed to miss their moms, but I can’t help it, I just can’t.”

Pity clutched his small body closer to Obi-Wan’s chest.  “Jedi are allowed to love, Anakin. It’s when that love becomes an attachment that makes it a problem,” he murmured, adding almost as an afterthought, “It’s alright to miss people as well.”

The boy twisted around in his arms to look at him, wide eyes pale in the darkness. “Do you miss Master Qui-Gon?”

The question hung heavy in the air for a few long moments. “I do," Obi-Wan confessed, feeling grief rear its ugly head once more, “We are not supposed to mourn the dead, but rather celebrate their passing into the living Force.” He’d repeated the same line over and over in the past tiring, achingly long days--to himself, to Padme, to anyone kind enough to give the deceased Jedi’s shadow their condolences. 

“I miss him too.” 

Obi-Wan sighed; he was too exhausted to have this conversation now.  “Sleep,” he urged, a sliver of a Force suggestion backing the word. Eyes fluttered shut with a stifled yawn, and the boy was soon fast asleep. Exhaustion had tired him out to the point where the sleep suggestion took minimal effort on Obi-Wan's part.

For a brief moment, he considered carrying Anakin back to his own bed for the night. Another sharp crack of thunder caused Anakin to unconsciously wriggle closer to him, and Obi-Wan decided against it. 

**Author's Note:**

> About halfway through writing this I realized it fit perfectly with "I'm With You" by Avril Lavigne and the title and summary were born.  
> I just felt like writing something really fluffy


End file.
